Hanover 6, Ashland 0: Midnight strikes on Clockers' Cinderella run

Friday

The Ashland boys hockey team found itself in the epitome of a David versus Goliath situation on Friday evening.

BOURNE — The Ashland boys hockey team found itself in the epitome of a David versus Goliath situation on Friday evening.

After going .500 during the regular season and earning the 20th seed out 21 teams selected for the Division 3 South sectional tournament, the Clockers stunned the field, beating 13th-seeded Foxborough, fourth-seeded St. John Paul, and fifth-seeded Bourne to reach the sectional semifinals.

Staring across the ice at Gallo Arena on Friday was top-seeded Hanover — which is unbeaten — with a berth in the Div. 3 South title game Saturday afternoon on the line.

The Cinderella story ultimately came to a screeching halt for Ashland as Hanover just had too much firepower and hammered the Clockers 6-0.

Ashland's unexpected and remarkable run comes to an end with a 12-10-2 record while Hanover remains undefeated at 22-0-1 and will face either Hopkinton or Rockland back at Gallo on Sunday at 12:45 p.m. for the Division 3 South title.

"We knew they were good," said Ashland coach Mike Roman. "These [Ashland] kids really came together during this run and consistently played hard for each other. Jackson Hornung was a huge catalyst for this run (Hornung scored 11 of the 12 goals Ashland had in the tournament) and then [Mike] Lowd in net really picked his game up too.

“The community was phenomenal supporting us and it was a great run to be a part of."

Trailing 2-0 after one, Ashland had no answer for the speed of Hanover and watched as the Indians repeated their dominant first period. Hanover quickly killed a man advantage the Clockers were awarded at the end of the first for boarding, then got right back to work in the Ashland zone, relentlessly forechecking the Ashland defense while Michael Lowd (35 saves) in goal had to make some phenomenal saves to keep the game close, flashing both pads several times on multiple tip opportunities by the Indians.

Lowd couldn't be a stonewall forever, however, and with Nick Fish in the box for tripping, the Indians made it 3-0 with one of the prettier power play goals you'll see. Andrew Cratty found Zach Taylor with a backdoor slap pass, and Taylor quietly tapped it home for the three-goal lead with 6:43 left in the second.

"It's just a matter of playing guilty, like you owe your teammates something," Lowd said of his mindset against such a talented team. "Our guys played their hearts out throughout this whole playoff run and I just felt like it was my job to play for them. This whole run we had a hell of a fan section and a ton of support.

“It didn't end the way we wanted, but this was a special group."

With 3:49 left the Hanover power play went back to work after Steven Lowd was called for roughing. Lucas Lanagan finished off a one-timer in the slot from Taylor to make it 4-0. Just 42 seconds later a loose puck in front was stuffed home by Sam Perkins and the rout was on as Hanover made it 5-0 after two periods.

With 10:39 remaining in the third, Hanover continued to pour salt in the wound as Perkins finished off a feed from Derek DeVincent to make it 6-0, and that's how things would end.

Ashland opened the game with a good chunk of possession time in the Hanover zone, firing off two early shots, but the Indians soon turned it into transition, and just 2:05 in to the game the Clockers were down 1-0.

Taylor received a perfect saucer pass from Zach Stone near the right circle, calmly collected it, and let a hard wrister go past the glove of Lowd for the early lead. The Indians continued to pressure the Clockers, and with 8:59 remaining made it a 2-0 game as Manning Morris one-timed home a pass at the left post from Lanagan, prompting Roman to use his timeout early to try and settle Ashland down.

Hanover continued to pepper the Clockers, but Lowd was able to keep the game close for the time being, making nine saves in the period and getting his team to the first intermission trailing by just the two goals.

"It's good to have the program back on the map," said Roman. "These guys really did an excellent job of representing the team and Ashland the right way, and hopefully it's something we can build on moving forward."

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